Tetherball game with score counter

ABSTRACT

A tetherball game wherein a ball is suspended on a flexible tether from the upper end of an upright has a counter or indicator atop the upright which is connected to the tether and indicates the score. This counter consists basically of a threaded member which is screwed relative to another threaded member to indicate the score on a linear scale. The tether is rotationally coupled to a scale which in turn is rotationally coupled to a nut bearing a pointer and threaded on a spindle, so that rotation of the scale displaces the nut up or down on the spindle. Alternatively the tether is coupled to the spindle to rotate this relative to a nonrotatable scale, with a nonrotatable nut again serving as pointer. Two scales are preferably provided, each connected through a unidirectional clutch to the tether so that each indicates the points made by one player.

United States Patent 91 Litzka [451 May 1, 1973 [54] TETHERBALL GAME WITH SCORE COUNTER [76] Inventor: Franz Litzk a, 859 Marktredwitz,

Germany v [22] Filed: Mar. 16, 1970 211 App]. No.: 19,847

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 331,782 7/1930 Great Britain ..273/58 C Primary Examiner-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant Examiner-Marvin Siskind Attorney-Karl F. Ross 57 ABSTRACT A tetherball game wherein a ball is suspended on a flexible tether from the upper end of an upright has a counter or indicator atop the upright which is connected to the tether and indicates the score. This counter consists basically of a threaded member which is screwed relative to another threaded member to indicate the score on a linear scale. The tether is rotationally coupled to a scale which in turn is rotationally coupled to a nut bearing a pointer and threaded on a spindle, so that rotation of the scale displaces the nut up or down on the spindle. Alternatively the tether is coupled to the spindle to rotate this relative to a nonrotatable scale, with a nonrotatable nut again serving as pointer. Two scales are preferably provided, each connected through a unidirectional clutch to the tether so that each indicates the points made by one player.

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Attorney l TETHERBALL GAME WITH SCORE COUNTER FIELD OF THE INVENTION BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Tetherball is generally scored by a win-or-lose system wherein the winner must wind the tether around the upright post a certain number of times against his opponent. Usually once the tether cord is fully wound around the post with the ball touching it, the game is over. In other systems there simply is no way of determining the victor.

Such a method is disadvantageous, however, since, as the tether is wrapped around the post, the radius of revolution becomes smaller and the angular velocity of the ball grows, thereby making it harder for the op-' ponent to return the ball and unwind the cord. 7

Another difficulty with known games of this type is pled through a free-running or unidirectional clutch to the ring in one direction and the other set coupled through a unidirectional clutch in the other direction so that both scores, rather than just the difference, are shown.

According to a further feature of the present invention the ball is held in a harness formed by a generally flat spider having at least three outwardly extending, angularly spaced arms or bands whose free ends are joined together and connected to the tether.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the instant invention will become apparent from the following description, reference being made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a tetherball game according to the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 is a partly sectional detail view of the counter of FIG. 1, in enlarged scale;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing in enlarged scale a detail of a second embodiment of the present inventhat the ball very often comes loose from the tether. To

avoid this, special balls with built-in loops or eyes are provided at considerable expense.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide an improved tetherball game.

Another object is to provide such a game which overcomes the above-given disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above objects are attained in accordance with a feature of the present invention by providing a counter atop the tetherball upright or on the tether support which is coupled to the tether to count the number of revolutions made by the ball in either direction around it, or to give a running indication of the difference in v the number of rotations in either sence, hence the score betweenthe players.

According to another feature of the invention, there is provided screw-thread means which serves to couple the tether with indicator means linearly displaceable on the support to represent the number of revolutions of the ball around the support.

The tether according to the invention can simply be attached to a threaded spindle which is acrewed into and out of a hollow threaded support as the ball is rotated around the support, or can be attached to a nut on a spindle which is thus screwed along this spindle and axially displaced in a direction dependent on the rotational sense.

Another feature of the invention resides in attaching the tether to a ring pivotal on the support member. This ring is rotationally coupled to a scale which is axially fixed and rotationally coupled to a indicator in the form of a nut threaded on an axially fixed and nonrotatable spindle so that, as the scale rotates, the indicator is screwed along the spindle in a direction depending on the rotation sense.

Alternatively, in accordance with the invention the scale and nut are nonrotatable, and an axially fixed spindle is rotated to drive the nut. Also there can'be provided a pair of scales and pointers with one set coution;

FIGS. 4 and 5 are views similar to FIG. 2 illustrating third and fourth embodiments of the present invention, respectively;

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view, similar to FIG. 1 showing a fifth embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a ball-holding harness according to the present invention; and

FIGS. 9 and 10 are sectional views showing alternative methods of mounting the ball in the harness of FIG. 8.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION As seen in FIG. 1, a tetherball set has a post 28 driven into the ground, or secured on a table, and made of three interfltting sections 28a-c. The upper section 28a rotatably supports a ring 3 having an eye 5 from which depends a tether 6, e.g. a heavy cord. A ball 29 or other weight or weighted member, held in a harness 30 (described below with reference to FIGS. 8 10), is suspended at the free end of the flexible cord 6. It should be noted, however, that any weighted and preferably soft body may be substituted for the ball and that member 6 need not be flexible although is flexibility is most desirable; in fact member 6 may be a rod. Also the preferred support is a post, but tripods and even overhead brackets may be substituted.

Tetherball is customary played by two persons, one to each side of the post 28, each having a racket, bat or paddle 31 or 32 or using their hands without the assistance of a paddle etc. The object is to strike the ball 29 past ones opponent, while his goal is to prevent passage of the ball by striking it back in the opposite direction, and possibly past, the other player. The winner of the game is the player who is able to drive the ball past his opponent the greatest number of times and who, therefore, has caused the ball to rotate about the a spindle I threaded in its central region and having two unthreaded portions 15 and 15'. A ball bearing 4 surrounds a portion of the stepped support 2 and rotatably carries the ring 3 on which the eye 5 is mounted. Press fitted over an inwardly stepped portion of the ring 3 is another ring 3 which fixedly carries a rod 7 extending parallel to the spindle l and from which a scale 8 extends radially. A bracket 9 fastened to the rod 7 fits over the top end of the spindle 1, allowing the scale 8 to turn about the spindle 1. A nut 10 is threaded onto the spindle 1 and is fixed to an arm 11 which has two pointer-like extensions 12 (see FIG. 2) embracing the rod 7 and point to numerals inscribed on the scale 8.

During play, as the ball is batted back and forth thereby rotating the ring 3, the rod 7 rotationally entrains the arm 11 and screws the nut 10 up or down along the spindle 1 depending on rotational sense.'Play is started with the pointer at zero, whereafter the pointer will move up one gradation for each score (or rotation of the tether about the axis) in one rotational sense, and down for each score in the opposite sense. The scale thus indicates how many more points one player has scored than the other.

There is shown in dashed lines at 16 in FIG. 2 how a second scale and a second pointer can be provided to facilitate reading of the score from any direction. Of course, this second scale can be set off at right angles to the first one, or three or more such scales can be provided.

In the system of FIG. 2, broken lines illustrate an eyelet 46 mounted directly on the nut 10. In such a construction the cord 6 is attached to the eyelet 46 instead of to the ring 3 to drive the indicator up and down.

In FIG. 4 there is shown a counter having a pair of coaxial spindles la and 1b on which are arranged respective nuts 10a and 10b having arms llaand 11b. Respective scales 8a and 8b are fixed to rods 7a and 7b which are carried on pairs of arms 9a, 9a and 9b, 9b that are pivotally held on the spindle la, lb, respectively. Each spindle section 1a or 1b has an upper unthreaded portion a or 15b and a lower unthreaded portion 150 or 15b, respectively.

A tether 6a is attached to an eyelet 5a fixed to a ring 3a rotatably mounted on the spindle between the sections 1a and 1b. Between the ring 3a and the arm 9a is a unidirectional clutch 13 effective in one rotational sense, and below this ring 30 is a unidirectional clutch 14 effective in the other sense to rotate the scale 8b with the ring 3a. In this manner the upper scale 8a registers the points scored by one player while the lower scale 8b shows those of his opponent. Any conventional ratchet or sawtooth clutch can be used for this purpose.

Instead ofa clutch 14 as shown in FIG. 4, a nut 10b as shown in FIG. 3 can be used. This nut 10b consists of an outer ring 50 rotatable on an inner ring 51 threaded on the spindle lb. Sawtooth formations on the inner ring 51 are engaged by a small leaf spring 53 fixed on the outer ring 50 so that these two rings can turn relative to each other in one rotation sense, but rotate together in the other. A similar nut can be provided for the top spindle 1a, but in this case the sawteeth should be turned in the other direction. Of course, when nuts similar to that shown in FIG. 3 are provided, the ring 3 is simply rotationally fixed to the two arms 9a and 9b.

With the embodiments of FIGS. 2 and 4 the clear portions 15, 15', 15a, 15a, 15b, and 15b are sufficiently narrow to allow the nuts 10, 10a or 10b to slip off them to prevent stripping of the threads at either end of their travel. Should a nut be screwed up to the end of the threads, it will merely pass onto the smooth portion and stop, further rotation will not damage the device.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a further embodiment of the invention wherein a spindle is formed with a threaded portion 17 which is threadedly received in a sleeve 18 attached to a support 2c. A ring 30 is carried on this support 20 via a bearing 19 and carries an eyelet 50 from which a cord 6c depends. The spindle 1c is also formed with two longitudinal diametrically opposite grooves 22 and 23 into which small lugs 20 and 21 on the ring 30 engage to rotationally couple the two. This spindle 1c is further provided with indicia 47 and a cap 26 that can indicate positions on a scale element 24 marked at 25 which is mounted on the ring 3c. As the ring 3c is rotated by the ball, the spindle 1c is screwed either up or down in the sleeve 18 and either its cap 26 shows the score on the scale 24, or the indicia 47 at the level of the ring 30 can be read to find out the score, whereby the ring 3 acts as an indicator or pointer. The scale 24 can be eliminated, or the indicia 47 can.

FIG. 7 shows a spindle 1d which is rotatably mounted on a bearing 19d on a support 2d. An eyelet 5d for the cord 6d is mounted on the ring part 3d of the threaded spindle 1d. Projecting nonrotatably through the hollow center of the spindle 1d is a shaft 27 which is bent into a radial arm 9d from which rigidly depend a rod 7d and scale 8d. A nonrotatable nut 10d having a pointer lid is threaded on the spindle 1d and can ride up and down relative to the scale 8d. Rotation of the eyelet 5d around the support 2d rotates the spindle 1c and screws the nut 10d up and down the spindle 1d. An eyelet 48 can be provided atop the shaft 27 to allow the entire counter of FIG. 7 to be mounted horizontally, whereupon the ball will rotate about a horizontal axis.

The harness or spider 30 for holding the ball 29 is shown in FIG. 8. Extending radially outward from a central portion 34 are four straps 35 38 in the wide ends 35 38' of each of which is a hole 39 reinforced by a metal grommet 40. The harness is preferably made of chrome tanned leather and has at least three such angularly equally spaced strap arms each having a length from the center of portion 34 to the center of hole 39 equal to half the circumference of the ball to be held. The central section 34 has its own hole 45 and grommet 44. Bumps 55 are formed on the arms 35 38 to grip the ball 29. I

FIG. 9 shows how the harness 30 is wrapped around the ball 29 with the cord 6 passes through the holes 39 and formed into a closed loop 41, a ring book can also be used to secure the ends 35' 38' together.

I In FIG. 10 the arms of the harness 30 are received in corresponding shallow grooves 49 in the ball 29. A cupped plate 42 formed with a perforated pin 43 lies against the ball with its pin 43 passing through all of the holes 40 and the free ends of the arms 35 38 lying flat on one another. The loop 41 is thence caught in the pin 43 to suspend the ball 21. Another plate having a pin 43 is arranged under the hole 45 so that the ball 29 can be supported on two ropes or cords extending outwardly coaxially in opposite directions.

Such a harness is necessary since the ball 29 must be suspended on a cord and must also be able to be struck laterally with great force without coming free from the cord. The harness here shown is of simple design, while being very' strong. At the same time it allows simple rapid replacement of the ball whenever necessary and eliminates the need for special balls.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

l. A tetherball game comprising: a generally upright support member: a ball: a tether connected at one end to said ball; and counter means on said support member and connected to the other end of said tether for counting revolutions of said ball around said support member, said counter means comprising:

indicating means displaceable on said support member for representing the number of revolutions of said ball; and

screw-thread means between said tether and said indicating means for translating rotation of said ball around said support member into displacement of said indicating means, said indicating and screwthread means further comprising:

a thread spindle element mounted on said member;

a scale element adjacent said spindle element;

an indicating member carried on said spindle element and displaceable along said scale element, one of said members being formed with a bore threadedly receiving said spindle element;

first coupling means operatively connecting said other end of said tether to one of said elements in at least one rotational sense of said ball;

support second coupling means rotationally fixing the other member and said spindle element relative to each other; and 7 third coupling means making said one element rotatable relative to said support member and fixing the other element rotationally relative to said support member for displacement of said indicator member along said scale element on rotation of said ball around said support member, said spindle element being axially fixed and nonrotatable on said support member, said indicating member being formed with said bore, said tether being operatively connected to said scale element, said scale element being rotationally coupled to said indicating member and said indicating member being rotatable on said spindle element.

2. The tetherball game defined in claim 1 further comprising a second such scale element and indicating member, and unidirectional clutch means coupling said other end of said tether to one of said scale element in one rotational sense of said ball and with the other of said scale elements in the other rotational sense of said ball.

3. The tetherball game defined in claim 1, further comprising a harness for the ball having a central portion with at least three outwardly extending flat arms having ends formed with holes, said arms embracing said ball with said holes registering with one another, said tether being connected to said harness at said 4 T The tetherball game defined in claim 3 wherein said harness further comprises a respective reinforcing grommet in each hole, said arms being substantially equally angularly spaced and being wider at said free ends than toward said central portion. 

1. A tetherball game comprising: a generally upright support member: a ball: a tether connected at one end to said ball; and counter means on said support member and connected to the other end of said tether for counting revolutions of said ball around said support member, said counter means comprising: indicating means displaceable on said support member for representing the number of revolutions of said ball; and screw-thread means between said tether and said indicating means for translating rotation of said ball around said support mEmber into displacement of said indicating means, said indicating and screw-thread means further comprising: a thread spindle element mounted on said support member; a scale element adjacent said spindle element; an indicating member carried on said spindle element and displaceable along said scale element, one of said members being formed with a bore threadedly receiving said spindle element; first coupling means operatively connecting said other end of said tether to one of said elements in at least one rotational sense of said ball; second coupling means rotationally fixing the other member and said spindle element relative to each other; and third coupling means making said one element rotatable relative to said support member and fixing the other element rotationally relative to said support member for displacement of said indicator member along said scale element on rotation of said ball around said support member, said spindle element being axially fixed and nonrotatable on said support member, said indicating member being formed with said bore, said tether being operatively connected to said scale element, said scale element being rotationally coupled to said indicating member and said indicating member being rotatable on said spindle element.
 2. The tetherball game defined in claim 1 further comprising a second such scale element and indicating member, and unidirectional clutch means coupling said other end of said tether to one of said scale element in one rotational sense of said ball and with the other of said scale elements in the other rotational sense of said ball.
 3. The tetherball game defined in claim 1, further comprising a harness for the ball having a central portion with at least three outwardly extending flat arms having ends formed with holes, said arms embracing said ball with said holes registering with one another, said tether being connected to said harness at said holes.
 4. The tetherball game defined in claim 3 wherein said harness further comprises a respective reinforcing grommet in each hole, said arms being substantially equally angularly spaced and being wider at said free ends than toward said central portion. 